1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to tow hitch apparatus for connecting a trailing vehicle or trailer onto a towing vehicle. More particularly, the invention relates to tow hitch apparatus which is easily connected to the towing vehicle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Numerous types of tow hitch apparatus have been known heretofore. Many of these prior tow hitch apparatuses have been directed to overcoming the difficulty in aligning the ball of the towing vehicle with the socket of the towed vehicle. The problem is caused by impaired visibility when backing the towing vehicle and the heavy weight of the tow bar end of the trailing vehicle is generally too great to be manually lifted and moved into alignment with the ball of the towing vehicle. U.S. Pat. No. 3,740,078 illustrates a typical tow hitch apparatus in which the draw bar is extendible as well as rotatably mounted on the trailer frame. This tow hitch apparatus, however, is expensive to manufacture and requires time-consuming manually winching the tow bar into longitudinal alignment on the trailer frame imposing stresses on the wheel support of the trailer frame and winching difficulties for the operator. Other patents generally relating to this field are U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,820,822 and 2,988,383. Patent 2,988,383 in particular is of the desirable pull-forward to latch type of hitch but requires the inconvenient manual insertion of a safety pin for surge overload protection. Surge overload is the condition of an emergency vehicle stop where the full weight of the trailer pushes forward on the hitch.